Calling all barred rock lovers!

[RAsChickens]

Barred rocks are my favorite breed! I have one barred rock, Gidget (she's my avatar) and she (shhhh!) is my favorite hen! She lets me pet her and pick her up, and always squawks super loud when I call them! She's the lead hen and always is the first out of the run in the morning and the first to explore something new!

 

[treslilbirds]

Love it!
I've always wanted a Barred Rock, but they never had any pullets at the TSC or feed store here where I live. They remind me of little ladies in houndstooth dresses.

DH ordered me 5 BR pullets from Cackle along with 10 EE's. They ship out today, I can't wait to get my little babies

 

[DesertBird]

Awe, what a cutie! And I love her name! Do you have any stories to share about her?

I started my flock about 6 months ago, and my first additions were 6 Barred Plymouth Rock pullets. About half of them started laying not too long ago, and they definitely got a lot more people-friendly after that. I have 8 RIR's, too, but they're still in the grow-out pen.

This is Blackbeak. It originally started out as a nickname for her, but now I'd just feel weird calling her something else. She's the very bottom of the pecking order, and is constantly on high alert for whatever she thinks is there. When I let them out to free range, she likes to come over to me and stare at me for a minute, then scream at me. She's possibly my favorite girl, but it's so hard to choose!

This is Greta, one of my laying pullets and the first one that had a name. She used to be bottom of the pecking order before she started laying, so we named her after Greta Garbo because she was always being picked on and alone. Now, she picks on 2 of the other hens. She constantly takes it upon herself to sit on the nest in the mornings, evenings, rain storms, etc. despite 2 other pullets laying there, too.

This is Minnie, one of my sweetest and smallest girls. She's also laying, and likes to scream at the other pullets to get off the nest, even though they each have their own nesting box. She hates being picked up (flies out of your arms the second you try to readjust her ) but doesn't mind being pet. She's also rocking that mini comb over. As I'm typing this, she just started up screaming at the other girls to get off the nest.

This is Missy, who I believe is the dominant pullet. She's rocking that little "food boob" here. On occasion, she's a bit mean and really likes to peck at things, but she's still a sweetheart. If you pick her up, she just has to grab your hands with her feet - she does not like being held without being able to perch on someone or something.

This is Rhonda, who is the other pullet I think might be dominant and is also laying. It's hard to tell, since Missy gets along decently with the other girls but Rhonda is constantly mean to them all except Missy - if she pecks Missy, she gets chased off. She's definitely got the biggest wattles and comb, and that comb over is very impressive! Sometimes, I don't think she can see around it. If you pick her up, you have to be very quick to put her back down because she pecks anything and everything, including people's hands. When food is involved, she refuses to let the other chickens anywhere near her or it, so we had to buy her her own little feeder.

Lastly is little Scout. She doesn't seem to understand her place in the pecking order, and neither do I. None of my family can figure out where she is in it, because she pecks all but 2 (Rhonda and Missy) of the other girls, but then gets chased off by 2 of the other girls she pecks. So I'm not quite sure where she falls. But she's a sweetheart, despite being a bit skittish and ditzy. When they free range, she tends to get left behind and a bit lost, and doesn't seem to care about keeping up with the flock; she constantly needs to be led back to them. When we bring them back into their coop or their run, she's always the one that needs to be chased down - it could be storming at 10 PM with multiple cats and multiple hawks in the yard, but she still wouldn't run back to the coop. I don't think she'd even notice! Given us plenty of exercise, though! After she's done running around and lets us pick her up to take her back, she's totally calm and has fallen asleep in my arms a few times. Quite the character.

Here's a pic of the entire little flock. Left to right, there's Greta, Blackbeak (lower), Scout (upper), Missy, Minnie, and Rhonda. They're enjoying some of the chicken food I spilled. Despite having 2ish acres of grass, they seem to love the dirt area a lot more. Definitely a lot easier to let these girls out and supervise them than to let my RIR's out - these ones stay together, while I have to actively make sure my RIR's don't spread out all over the yard.

 

[RAsChickens]

Awe, what a cutie! And I love her name! Do you have any stories to share about her?

I started my flock about 6 months ago, and my first additions were 6 Barred Plymouth Rock pullets. About half of them started laying not too long ago, and they definitely got a lot more people-friendly after that. I have 8 RIR's, too, but they're still in the grow-out pen.

View attachment 1098778 This is Blackbeak. It originally started out as a nickname for her, but now I'd just feel weird calling her something else. She's the very bottom of the pecking order, and is constantly on high alert for whatever she thinks is there. When I let them out to free range, she likes to come over to me and stare at me for a minute, then scream at me. She's possibly my favorite girl, but it's so hard to choose!

View attachment 1098779
This is Greta, one of my laying pullets and the first one that had a name. She used to be bottom of the pecking order before she started laying, so we named her after Greta Garbo because she was always being picked on and alone. Now, she picks on 2 of the other hens. She constantly takes it upon herself to sit on the nest in the mornings, evenings, rain storms, etc. despite 2 other pullets laying there, too.

View attachment 1098782
This is Minnie, one of my sweetest and smallest girls. She's also laying, and likes to scream at the other pullets to get off the nest, even though they each have their own nesting box. She hates being picked up (flies out of your arms the second you try to readjust her ) but doesn't mind being pet. She's also rocking that mini comb over. As I'm typing this, she just started up screaming at the other girls to get off the nest.

View attachment 1098784
This is Missy, who I believe is the dominant pullet. She's rocking that little "food boob" here. On occasion, she's a bit mean and really likes to peck at things, but she's still a sweetheart. If you pick her up, she just has to grab your hands with her feet - she does not like being held without being able to perch on someone or something.

View attachment 1098799
This is Rhonda, who is the other pullet I think might be dominant and is also laying. It's hard to tell, since Missy gets along decently with the other girls but Rhonda is constantly mean to them all except Missy - if she pecks Missy, she gets chased off. She's definitely got the biggest wattles and comb, and that comb over is very impressive! Sometimes, I don't think she can see around it. If you pick her up, you have to be very quick to put her back down because she pecks anything and everything, including people's hands. When food is involved, she refuses to let the other chickens anywhere near her or it, so we had to buy her her own little feeder.

View attachment 1098805
Lastly is little Scout. She doesn't seem to understand her place in the pecking order, and neither do I. None of my family can figure out where she is in it, because she pecks all but 2 (Rhonda and Missy) of the other girls, but then gets chased off by 2 of the other girls she pecks. So I'm not quite sure where she falls. But she's a sweetheart, despite being a bit skittish and ditzy. When they free range, she tends to get left behind and a bit lost, and doesn't seem to care about keeping up with the flock; she constantly needs to be led back to them. When we bring them back into their coop or their run, she's always the one that needs to be chased down - it could be storming at 10 PM with multiple cats and multiple hawks in the yard, but she still wouldn't run back to the coop. I don't think she'd even notice! Given us plenty of exercise, though! After she's done running around and lets us pick her up to take her back, she's totally calm and has fallen asleep in my arms a few times. Quite the character.


View attachment 1098807
Here's a pic of the entire little flock. Left to right, there's Greta, Blackbeak (lower), Scout (upper), Missy, Minnie, and Rhonda. They're enjoying some of the chicken food I spilled. Despite having 2ish acres of grass, they seem to love the dirt area a lot more. Definitely a lot easier to let these girls out and supervise them than to let my RIR's out - these ones stay together, while I have to actively make sure my RIR's don't spread out all over the yard.

"Food Boob" I DIED​

 

[Mickey67]

Love it!
I've always wanted a Barred Rock, but they never had any pullets at the TSC or feed store here where I live. They remind me of little ladies in houndstooth dresses.

DH ordered me 5 BR pullets from Cackle along with 10 EE's. They ship out today, I can't wait to get my little babies

I have nine, that is the only kind they had at Rural King when I bought mine. I have since added some australorps ( not sure of spelling)

 

[DesertBird]

"Food Boob" I DIED​

I had no idea the crop caused that when I first started, so I just started calling it their little "boobs" and then I learnt that it's because their food is stored in the crop and saw someone (RooAndCrew) on Instagram called them "food boobs" and decided to bring the trend to my little flock. With my girls free ranging, it's like a constant thing! Even before I let them free range and they were in their grow-out pen, they still managed to rock their little food boobs just by eating their grower.